Lewis Hamilton Breaks Silence on Ferrari Chairman’s ‘Shut up and Drive’ Statement

Lewis Hamilton has finally broken the silence on John Elkann's comments asking him and Charles Leclerc to focus on driving rather than talking.

Lewis Hamilton Breaks Silence on Ferrari Chairman’s ‘Shut up and Drive’ Statement

Lewis Hamilton (via Reuters)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Ferrari is currently suffering from a streak of woeful results. The team has been unable to achieve even a race win so far, with Lewis Hamilton being in the thick of it as he hasn’t even scored a podium finish.

As such, the team’s chairman, John Elkann, issued a brutal statement, asking both drivers to focus more on driving the cars and talking less. Now, Hamilton has broken the silence on the matter and provided his candid opinion.

Lewis Hamilton‘s debut year with Ferrari has been nothing short of a nightmare for him. He has continued to face unexpected issues in the team and has failed to amass any notable results apart from a sprint race win.

The recent Brazil GP was one of the worst race weekends for the team as they suffered from their third double DNF in the 2025 season. Hamilton made a silly error and had to call it quits early on in the race, thus marking a disappointing end to his day.

Now, John Elkann brutally asked both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to focus on driving rather than talking. Leclerc took no offence at the matter and saw it positively. Similarly, Hamilton isn’t taking Elkann’s comments as blunt criticism.

The seven-time champion asserted that he spoke to the Italian almost every week. Further, he clarified that he had a great relationship with the Chairman and thus did not have a negative reaction to the latter’s comments.

John and I, we speak almost every week, We have a great relationship, I didn’t have a reaction to it. I don’t really look into those things too much.

Lewis Hamilton said, as reported by RacingNews365.

Following the Brazil weekend, Lewis Hamilton had made some posts on Social Media that people believed were an indirect response to John Elkann’s comments. However, Hamilton clarified that he wasn’t even aware of Elkann’s comments until much later.

The 40-year-old was on a flight when the comments were taken out of context. Regardless, the Briton did not think much of it, and he understands where the Italian is coming from and what he means by the comments.

It [the social media post] wasn’t a reaction. I hadn’t even seen it, I posted it, and I was flying. It’s not then [until] I got home and I heard about it, so it wasn’t a reaction to it all. That was from the weekend.

Lewis Hamilton added.

Lewis Hamilton reveals ‘negative attention’ to Ferrari in Formula 1

Ferrari is the most iconic team in Formula 1, participating in the sport since its inception back in 1950. Racing for the Prancing Horse is an unrealized dream for almost every driver in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Lewis Hamilton, Fred Vasseur and Charles Leclerc (via Getty)
Lewis Hamilton, Fred Vasseur and Charles Leclerc (via Getty)

However, alongside the glamor comes the massive expectation to perform well for the Reds. Lewis Hamilton has been unable to do so and hence is experiencing some moments of lows as he opens up on the negative attention towards the Italian constructor.

Speaking on the recent woes, Lewis Hamilton insisted that everyone within the team needed to take responsibility and play their own parts. Further, Hamilton noted that he was incredibly grateful for the extraordinary efforts by the team members. The 40-year-old insisted that it wasn’t a surprise that there was a huge amount of attention towards the team, and the majority of the time, it was negative.

We all need to take responsibility in this team, and we all need to play our part, I’m incredibly grateful for the extraordinary effort every single person back at the factory continues to put in week-on-week. Naturally, knowing that the team is Ferrari, there’s always a huge amount of attention and not always in a positive way.

Lewis Hamilton noted.

Regardless of the noise, Lewis Hamilton has his priorities straight. He has shifted his focus away from the 2025 season and onto the upcoming year. The Briton hopes to emerge as a winning force in 2026 and dominate the grid then. For now, the 40-year-old will aim to finish the season and start the coming year afresh.

Read More: Lance Stroll Urges Franco Colapinto to ‘Shut up and Score Points’ After Brazil GP drama